The entire disclosures, including the drawings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,231 issued Jun. 25, 1996 to Ronald J. Burgess for an ADJUSTABLE CAR CARRIER, U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,521 issued Jul. 15, 1997 to Ronald J. Burgess for an ADJUSTABLE CAR CARRIER, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/892,542 filed Jul. 14, 1997 entitled AN EXTENSION FOR A CAR CARRIER, and Provisional Patent Application filed Jun. 13, 1997 for a LOAD CARRIER and assigned Ser. No. 60/050,079 are expressly incorporated by reference herein for disclosure purposes.
The present invention and its several constituent components relate to vehicular load carrying apparatus. More specifically, the primary embodiments of the presently disclosed invention relate to hitch-mounted load carrying apparatus for sports equipment. Several significant components of the invention, however, have shared applicability with load carrying apparatus positioned at alternative locations upon a vehicle such as upon the roof top.
Carriers for sporting equipment are well known in the industry and are used for transporting pieces of sport equipment to remote locations for use. One such instance is carriers for bicycles that mount upon passenger vehicles. A preferred location for mounting such racks is at the rear of the vehicle where the rack causes minimum distraction and does not obstruct a driver""s view. Many vehicles have tailgates that lower and back windows that raise; examples of such vehicles are station wagons, pick-up trucks and many sport utility vehicles. It is also common for such vehicles to have trailer hitch receptacles or receivers located proximate to the bumper structure below these gates. A common configuration for such receivers is a rectangular receptacle intended for a balled assembly to be inserted and fixed therein. It is upon this balled assembly that a trailer may be hitched. When such a balled assembly is not needed, it may be removed in many designs. When removed, the rectangular or otherwise tubularly shaped receiver is vacant and often covered with a removable cap.
Sport rack carrier designers have taken advantage of the presence of such a receiver and designed sports racks to be mounted therein at times when the vehicle is not being used for towing purposes and the receiver is vacant. One particularly popular embodiment in such a rack is in the form of a bicycle carrier.
Such hitch mounted bicycle carriers are known in the industry. One example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,231 issued to Burgess on Jun. 25, 1996 for an ADJUSTABLE CAR CARRIER. In that device, an upright post is journalled to a horizontal extension mounted in the hitch receiver. Typical carrier systems of known designs incorporate a hinged configuration so that the primary upright structure may be folded downward to facilitate the opening and closing of an adjacently located tailgate or door. During transport and travel, however, the carrier must be fixed in a substantially upright orientation for proper carriage of the sports equipment resting thereon.
An obvious benefit of such hitch mounted carriers is that they do not compromise the interior carrying capacity of the vehicles upon which they are mounted. Because of the extension effect behind the vehicle, however, loads carried thereon may experience amplified movement as well as shock forces. As a result, it has been recognized as an important criteria for such carrier systems to have efficient securing systems for the load intended to be carried thereon.
In the illustrated embodiments of the present invention, those loads are shown as bicycles. Through the use of other known hitch mount carriers for bicycles, the inventors have appreciated a need for adaptable configurations for securely receiving the bicycles upon the carrier. Adaptability has also been recognized as important for accommodating various bicycles"" configurations when mounted thereon. Still further, it has been appreciated that at different times an operator may desire to carry different numbers of bicycles on a carrier. As has been exemplified in the art, carriers may be adaptably constructed to carry two or more bicycles at a given time.
In view of these criteria and needs of the industry and consumer, the present invention has been developed and designed to provide suitable enhancements for such load carrier apparatus.
This invention includes features and/or components that have been invented and selected for their individual and combined benefits and superior performance as a load carrier. The system includes multiple components that individually and singularly have new and novel features in and of themselves. Each of the individual components, however, work in association with, and are optimally mated to the others to perform superiorly as a hitch mounted load carrier.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention takes the form of a load carrier for at least one bicycle. The carrier includes a load carrier frame adapted to be mounted to a transport vehicle. A bicycle support is carried upon the load carrier frame and is configured for engaging a bicycle at a position proximate a rotatable connection of a bicycle pedal crank assembly to a frame of the bicycle. A securement mechanism is coupled to the load carrier frame and adapted for releasably engaging the bicycle pedal crank assembly of the bicycle for securing the bicycle upon the load carrier frame.
In one version of the load carrier, the securement mechanism is a substantially J-shaped hook securable about the bicycle pedal crank assembly. The J-shaped hook being of conventional design, it includes a hooked end portion and a straight end portion. A biasing member may be optionally associated with the J-shaped hook for urging the hooked end portion toward the load carrier when a bicycle is being transported upon the load carrier. In an alternative version of the load carrier, the securement mechanism is a clamping mechanism pivotally connected upon the load carrier frame. The clamping mechanism is abuttable against a properly positioned bicycle pedal crank assembly of a bicycle to be secured upon the load carrier.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for achieving the benefits afforded through the utilization of the above described load carrier design. This method for transporting a bicycle includes mounting a load carrier upon a transport vehicle. One or more bicycles are then installed upon a bicycle support member of the load carrier by engaging the bicycle at a position proximate a rotatable connection of a bicycle pedal crank assembly to a bicycle frame of the bicycle. The bicycle is releasably secured to the load carrier utilizing a securement mechanism coupled to the load carrier by restraining the bicycle pedal crank assembly of the bicycle to the load carrier.
The more general characteristics of the load carrier design of the present invention is comprised of two primary components. A lower or base portion is adapted to be insertably received into the carrying vehicle""s tubular hitch mount. This base or mounting portion is constructed in a substantially inverted xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d design. The upright member of the xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d is either open-ended at its top or provided with another type of receiver or connection for accepting a second primary component in the form of a head piece to be mounted securely thereon. By incorporating the two piece construction between the lower base portion and the exchangeable head pieces, a high degree of versatility is imparted to the invention.
While it is expected that the primary use of the carrier will be for sport equipment transport, by providing alternative head pieces, any number of applications may be accommodated. At least three substantially different types of head pieces are disclosed herein. The first, which includes at least two preferred embodiments, is for accommodating a plurality of bicycles to be carried thereon. The second configuration accommodates and accepts a containerized cargo compartment such as a luggage carrier box. The third configuration is a variably orientable clamping mechanism useable for holding items such as bicycles for maintenance and repair purposes. These alternatives are intended to be merely illustrative of the myriad of possible combinations that may be affected because of the advantageous component design disclosed herein.
A gas strut is employed upon the lower base portion to control movement of the upright or vertical member that is pivotally connected to the lowermost horizontal member of the T-shaped component. As may be easily appreciated, the upright member of the load carrier is connected to facilitate backward pivotation away from the carrying vehicle to accommodate the lowering of tailgates and provide greater clearance and accessibility to the rear portion of the carrying vehicle. Though a rearward positioning and orientation of the gas strut behind the upright member and away from the carrying vehicle has been illustrated, this configuration is not considered to be critical to performance. What is important is that the gas strut provide resistance to the folding down motion of the upright member with an urging force tending to keep the upright member in a substantially vertical position. Alternatively, the gas strut may be configured so that it merely applies resistance that ultimately gives way to the downward folding motion of the upright member. This type of gas strut may be utilized for preventing the upright member from too quickly folding downward and jostling the carried cargo which in the illustrated instances will be bicycles.
Two alternative embodiments of bicycle carrying head pieces are illustrated herein. In the first and preferred embodiment the portion of the carrier that supports the bicycle is provided through an upright open sleeve. The sleeve receives the bicycle pedal crank of one of the bicycle""s pedal assemblies and abuttingly engages the lower portion of the bicycle frame where the bicycle pedal crank assembly connects. Alternatively, the bicycle""s resting point may be at the rotateable axle between the pedal crank arm and the bicycle frame. Because the portions of the bicycle normally to be engaged are cylindrically shaped at the point of engagement with the carrier""s support member, the top portion of the upright sleeve intended for such contact with the bicycle is designed to include a recess taking the form of an inwardly arc-shaped receiving and abutting lip. Different means are provided for securing the bicycle to the carrier in each of the two embodiments. Both designs provide an engagement member that prevents the bicycle from being inadvertently disengaged from the carrier.
Because the bicycle carrying head piece is designed to engage a lower portion of the bicycle, its design is advantageously low-rise. That is to say, the compact construction and low-rise characteristics of the carrier minimize its obtrusiveness to the overall structure of the carrying vehicle.
By securely supporting the bicycle at this lower extremity, only a single additional point of support is required for accomplishing two-point stability. Such a configuration is provided in one embodiment, where an adjustable tray is provided for the front tire of the bicycle. Through this two-point connection, no additional connections are required. Supplementally, an adjustable tray or receiver may be additionally provided for the rear wheel of the bicycle. Such an alternative bracing configuration should be viewed as an enhancement, but not a requirement of the present invention.
As described above, two different and exemplary means are illustrated for securing a connection between the carrier and bicycle. A most simplified connection is where a J-hook is secured about the bicycle pedal crank assembly of the bicycle for holding the bicycle down upon the carrier. This type of connection provides substantial benefit not only in its simplicity of construction, but also in its ease of use and ready adaptability to almost any bicycle design.
While the J-hook style connection is illustratively utilized on a hitch mount carrier, it is contemplated that such a connector may be utilized in any number of sport rack carrier configurations, also including roof mount carrier systems. It is important that the receiving lip of the upright bicycle support of the load carrying head piece be securely engaged upon the lower surface of the bicycle frame or upon a portion of the bicycle pedal crank assembly. The J-hook securement alone capably secures the bicycle in such an initial configuration. But, if the supporting lip slips from this originally supported position into a crevice of the bicycle""s structure, such as the gap space between the frame and crank arm, the connection between the load carrier and bicycle may be compromised. As a result, attention should be given to the initial positioning of the bicycle during the mounting procedure, but furthermore, an elastic or biasing element may be included in the J-hook assembly as a take-up member. This elastic member compensates for any such change in configuration between the bicycle and the carrier so that slack occurring after the original mounting of the bicycle to the load carrier is taken up by the elastic member. An example, would be a spring or other biasing device interconnected between a stop or knob member upon the straight end portion of the J-hook and the load carrier for taking up such slack and maintaining a secure connection between the bicycle and the load carrier.
An alternative means for connecting the bicycle to the carrier head piece is also provided. Therein, a pivotal clamping mechanism is permitted to pivot in and out of closed engagement about a bicycle crank arm positioned in the upright open sleeve. By closing the clamp and tightening it so that it abuts and presses against the pedal crank arm with pressure, a satisfactory mounting connection is achieved between the bicycle and load carrier. As a practical matter, buffering inserts have been optionally provided inside the sleeve and also may be included upon the clamping piece so as to prevent damage to the crank arm when securing pressure is applied. These same buffering inserts may be used as spacers for properly positioning the bicycle pedal crank assembly within the sleeve. In other respects, however, the upright sleeves and those sleeves"" orientations upon the carrier headpiece are similar.
Additionally, it is contemplated that an additional bicycle carrying head piece may be added as an extension to the primary head piece carried atop the mounting or base portion of the carrier. For example, a rearmost end cap of the horizontal tubular support member may be removed and an insertable portion of a similarly configured extension head piece received therein. The configuration of this extension member would be substantially similar to that of the bicycle carrying head piece described. The extension may be constructed to carry one or more bicycles thereby increasing the capacity of the load carrier. A typical load configuration is for consecutive bicycles to be oppositely mounted on the head piece so that the front wheel of one bicycle is next to the rear wheel of an adjacent bicycle.
As described, the lower or mounting portion of the carrier is constructed to receive differently configured head pieces. An example of such a different head piece is where a clamping mechanism has been engaged upon the mounting portion for securing an item requiring attention. It is anticipated that based on the variable designs, both horizontally and vertically oriented elongate components may be secured within the clamp. The need for such an assisting apparatus for bicycle maintenance procedures while away from repair facilities would be highly advantageous in remote locations. With the mounting portion being carried upon the vehicle, the easy exchange and provision of the clamping head facilitates required repairs when away from a shop. Such an advantageously configured clamping mechanism may also find utility even in a shop setting because of its ease of use and storability, not requiring a permanent position within the shop environment.